Jesus and His Own

In Jesus and His Own Daniel Stevick offers a close, focused reading of John 13–17 -- the so-called Farewell Discourses of Jesus in which, as he shares his Last Supper with his disciples, he lovingly prepares them for the time coming after his departure. According to Stevick, these poignant passages develop more fully than any other New Testament text the intimate, persisting bonds between the living Jesus and his church -- the community of believers who live, through Christ, in close communion with God, under the Spirit, and in tension with the world.

In his section-by-section commentary Stevick gives careful attention to the literary, structural, and theological features of the text, pointing also to how and where the Revised Common Lectionary incorporates passages from John 13–17. The distillation of a senior seminary professor's lifelong study and reflection, Jesus and His Own will be especially valuable for pastors preparing to teach or preach from John's Gospel.

"This study in John's Gospel delivers more from less. 'Less' indicates that the study concentrates on five of John's twenty-one chapters (13–17), which record Jesus' farewell talks with his disciples and prayer to his Father on behalf of his own. 'More' indicates that the content of this book can function as an introduction to the whole Gospel, especially for homiletic purposes. . . Contemporary listeners, numbed by long-standing casual familiarity with John's Gospel, will hear the words of Jesus in fresh ways, will see the situation of the first-century church with new eyes, and will engage with the radical gospel for our time." - Roger Van Harn, editor of The Lectionary Commentary.